Safety-guard for printing-presses.



L. E. MORRISON.

SAFETY GUARD FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9. I914.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' LEWIS E. MORRISON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIG-NOR TO HUMANA COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

' SAFETY-GUARD FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

Patented Oct.5,1915.

Application filed October 9, 1914. I Serial No. 865,780.

which is to protect the operators hand or arm from accidental injury.

The invention is illustrated and described in connection-with a platen job press of a well known type, but it will appear later on and should be noted that the invent on is applicable to other types of printing presses, and in fact to other types or kinds of machines, as for instance, cutting machines or machines havlng movable dles or other parts WlllCh operate 1n a slmllar or like manner.

Another object of the invention is to constructthe safety guard in such a manner that it may be applied in the form of a un1t and does not require any, or at least very little alteration or Work on the machine on which the guard is to be used.

With these and other objects in view, the invention is embodied in a certain mechanism as hereinafter set forth and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a platen job press equipped with a safety guard constructed according to this invention and showing the press open, parts being omitted and broken away. Fig. 2 illustrates a step in the operation of the guard. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but shows the press closed and the guard in raised position.

Fig. 4 is a view of the guard detached, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the operating levers.

The reference numeral 6 represents the frame of the press, 7 is the oscillating form carrier pivoted to the frame at 8 and 9 denotes the oscillating platen. The form carrier is operated by means of the connecting rods 10 pivoted to the gear 11 on the one side of the press and which is driven by a pinion 12 on the main shaft. On the one side of the press the connecting rod is p1voted to a cam disk on shaft 13 and which is not shown. These parts, or parts similarly operated, are found on most every job press of thls type, and their construction and operation is well understood in the art. 14 represents a feed table for receiving the matter to be printed. I

In the operation of the press, the operator feeds to the platen the unprinted matter with his right hand, and removes from the platen the printed matter with his left hand. Inasmuch as the press is open, as shown 1n Fig. l, for but an instant, and closes quickly into printing position as shownin Fig. 3, it is obvious, that there is grave danger of injury to the operators hand In case he does not Withdraw it quickly enough and as a matter of fact, the hands of many operators have been injured by being caught between the platen and the form.

It is the aim of this invention to provide a safety guard so arranged that it is automatlcally operated by the press in such a manner as to forcibly remove the operators hand from the gap between the platen and the form. This is accomplished by so arranging the guard that it is moved across the position of the operators hand immediately after the press begins to close and whereby the operators hand is forced upward away from danger. On the other hand the guard is so arranged that sufficient time is given the operator in which to per form his task.

Referring to Fig. 4 the guard is composed of a cross bar 15 and side bars 16, 16. Thecross bar is preferably provided with a board or plate 17 hinged to the cross bar 15 at 77 and which is of a length or dimension to completely cover up the space between the raised platen and the feed board 14, to prevent the operators hand from being accidentally caught to the front of the guard, that is to the right in drawing, which often happens in case stock falls down from the feed board or for other reasons. The guard is secured to the platen by links 18, 18 which are pivoted to the guard at 19 and pivoted to the platen at 20 by means of brackets 21 one on each side.

The guard is operated by operating levers 22, one on each side and pivoted to the guard side bars at 23. The lever 22 is pivoted on a stud 24 on a bracket 25, and is further provided with a roller 26 and an abutting pad 27. A spring 28 urges the guard lever toward the form carrier 7. The bracket 25 is provided with a safety stop 29 and a rubber pad 30. It will be understood that the construction is the same on both sides of the press.

The exact shape of the bracket 25 and the manner in which it is secured to the press depends largely upon the construction of-the latter. In the drawing the bolts 31 repre 'sent bolts which are already on the press and the bracket is drilled to accommodate the bolts already in place so that no extra work on the press is needed for this purpose. As there are but a limited number of designs of job presses it is a small matter to adapt the design of the bracket 25 for any particular press.

When the press is open the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 1 from which it will be seen that the guard does not lnterfere wtih the operators work. As the platen moves down, the guard follows but does not commence to rise until the platen has reached a position about as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. As the platen continues its downward movement, the guard is raised in the direction of the arrow 35, that is, the guard is moved across the position of the operators hand and forces the latter rearward and upward until the guard is completely raised as in Fig. 3.

Inasmuch as the press is operated at considerable speed, the lever 22 would on its leftward movement strike the form member with a blow causing a jar and noise were it not for the rubber pad 30. As is clear from Fig. 2. the lever 22 strikes the rubber pad or buffer 30 before the form carrier has completed its movement to the right. The result is that an otherwise forceful blow on the form carrier by the lever is avoided. Immediately thereafter the form carrier, in continuing its movement to the right, strikes the roller 26 and forces the pivot 23 slightly to the right thereby straightening out the lever 22 and the guard side bars 16 which brings the pivots 19, 23 and 21 practically in a straight line and raises the guard to its extreme position above the platen.

lVhen the press opens, the lever 22 first follows the form carrier to the left because of the spring 28 until the guard by following the movement of the platen again pulls the lever into the position shown in Fig. 1, when the guard side bars 16 lay down on a rubber pad 36 in the links 18 in a socket 37 in said links to cushion the movement of the guard.

The position of the operators hand indicatedin Fig. '2 shows that it has been lifted rearward and upward away from danger of being caught between the platen and the It is obvious that changes may be made in the detailed construction of this invention Without departing from the principle thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a printing press or similar machine the combination with a movable platen and a form carrier, of a guard adapted to be moved across the position of the operators hand, a link pivoted to said guard and said platen and a lever pivoted to said guard and to theframe of the press for operating the guard.

2. In a printing press or similar machine the combination with a movable platen and a form carrier, of a guard adapted to be moved across the position of the operators hand, means pivoted to the guard and the platen for operating the guard in the direction of movement of said platen, means for moving the guard away from the platen and means operated by said form carrier for moving said guard into its extreme position away from the platen.

3. In a printing press or similar machine the combination with a movable platen and a form carrier, of a guard adapted to be moved across the position of the operators hand, link connections between said guard and the platen, operating levers pivotally connected to the said guard and springs for moving said levers toward the said form carrier.

4. In a printing press or similar machine the combination with a movable platen and a form carrier, of a guard adapted to be moved across the position of the operators hand, said guard comprising a cross bar and two side bars, pivoted connections between the latter and the said platen, operating levers pivoted to the free ends of said side bars, means for operating said operating levers toward the said form carrier and means for arresting the movement of said operating levers before they cont-act with said form carrier.

5. In a printing press or similar machine the combination with a movable platen and a form carrier, of a guard adapted to be moved across the position of the operators hand, said guard comprising a cross bar and two side bars, links pivoted to the latter nearest the said cross bar and to the said platen, operating levers pivoted to the free ends of said side bars and pivotally secured to the frame of the press, springs for operat- 1ng said operating levers in a direction away from sald platen and cushioning means for arresting the movement of said operating levers in a predetermined posi-' tion.

6. The combination With a printing press or similar machine having a movable platen and a movable form carrier, of a guard adapted to be moved across the position of the operators hand, said guard comprising a cross bar and side bars, link connections between the latter and said platen, cushioning means in said link connections for said side bars When the guard is in its inactive position, brackets secured to said press, levers pivoted to said brackets and pivotally connected to the free end of said side bars, springs on said brackets for urging said 1evers toward the said form carrier, cushioning means on said brackets for arresting the movements of said levers before they contact with said form carrier and safety till stops on said brackets for preventing accidental movements of said levers in a direction away from the form carrier.

7. The combination with a printing press or similar machine having a movable platen, of a guard adapted to be moved across the position of'the operators hand, a protecting member hinged to said guard and of a dimension suflicient to cover up the space between said platen when the latter is operated and the frame of the press and means for operating said guard.

Signed at Newark, N. J this 29th day of Septbr., 1914.

LEWIS E. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

S. H. PLUMBER, R. B. DEAN. 

